When we moved into this house 3 years ago fixing up the bathroom was at the top of our list. We just needed to find a bag of money first. Ha ha. It was a mix of cool old tile and newer Home Depot cheapy stuff. The sink was kinda crazy because someone had cut the old sink out and dropped in a nice glitter embedded sink complete with mismatched tile edging. The floor was a mess of beige tile that was all cracked and broken. The tub was horrible. It was so tiny I don't think the water even came up to my belly button. Here's a little
reminder.
We knew we wanted to stick to the original style of our 1950's house so I searched the amazing internet and found a company that claimed they had a passion to preserve original vintage homes. We had the owner come and give us an estimate and we talked with him about what our vision was. We wanted to keep the old vanity and linen closet and just put in a new tub, tile, vanity top, paint, and floor.
Well he had different ideas. He wanted to gut the whole thing and put in double sinks with a fancy stone top. I think as soon as he said double vanity my husband and I knew he wasn't for us. I mean I can see how a double vanity would be nice especially since this is our only bathroom, but it just isn't our style. Plus, since it is our only bathroom and we really couldn't have it torn up for over a month which is what he said it would take.
So we moved on. We have this great friend Jerry who put in the
vct flooring in our laundry room so I suggested to Matt that he message him and see if he knew anyone that did the kind of thing that we wanted. He came back with his cousin Ted. Ted came over and we told him what we wanted and he was awesome. He understood exactly what we had in mind and said it would definitely be something he could do.
So we went with him and we are so happy we did. Not only was he pleasant to have around he did an awesome job. We didn't have a shower for about 10 days but he left the toilet in until he absolutely had to remove it. Which actually only ended up being half a day.
I also have to add that while we knew what we wanted the bathroom to look like we had no idea where to start in regards to sourcing materials and such. I have been reading a website called
Retro Renovation for a while so that's where I started. I learned a ton from there. Who knew there were different spreads on bathroom sinks?
So here it is. We all love it so much and can't believe what a difference a little tile and paint makes.
A view from the doorway. I don't know why the rugs looks so weird but they are a lot more green.
A little closer with the curtain open. I love the way he framed the glass blocks with the black tile.
Super cute knobs on our lovely deep soaking tub. It's about 5 inches wider and a zillion inches deeper than the old one.
We had one of those ugly storage things hanging from the shower head before and I knew I didn't want to put up another one so we had these little niches put in for all of our soaps and shampoo.
I hated having the stupid tension shower rod fall down all of the time so we put in a permanent one. Best decision ever. Not only is it stable but the rings don't get caught on the little ridge in the middle every time you open and close the curtain.
We had the vanity sanded and painted. No more painted over hinges and dinged doors.
Ceramic tooth brush holder
My $30 habitat for humanity sink. I really wanted an 8 inch spread faucet and looked forever for a new sink but couldn't find one. Just when I was about to order a Kohler Tahoe sink I found this beauty.
Side view of the vanity area
Little metal shelves I found on etsy
Ted said he had a vintage toilet that a previous client of his had him take out. It turned out to be perfect. It was also FREE! It turned out it had a little crack in the tank that dripped really slow but I just drained the tank and fixed it with a little epoxy. No more leaks. I also put in a new toilet paper holder since the old one was all rusty.
Little vintage shelf I got on ebay.
Matt brought this hamper home from
Out of Vogue when he had band practice one night. We didn't need a hamper at the time so I just put it in our bedroom for the time being. Well it turned out to be perfect for the new bathroom.
Did you see the little Thermador peeking out from behind the hamper? There was one there when we moved in but it didn't work. Our friends Mike and Pam saved theirs for us when they remodeled their bathroom a few years ago. Ted had to move it up a little to accommodate the tile baseboards but it turned out perfect. We aren't going to use it just yet though since we don't want Juniper to get burnt on it since she is still so little.
Some little hooks on the back of the door that I had used in the girls room but took them out a while ago. There is also a set of hooks about mid wall on the left for the girls to hang up their towels.
More hooks for towels
Best floor ever. We originally wanted a 2" tile checker floor but I couldn't find the tile in stock anywhere. I liked the look of the 1" hex from home depot but wasn't in love with it. I found some 2" hex tile at
B&W Tile and we ordered it in sheets of black and sheets of white. We created our own pattern which Ted cut out and laid by hand. In the end I am glad we couldn't find the checkered because I love this so much more.
Like other things I searched forever to find a light I liked that wasn't $1000 or more. Found this vintage beauty at Out of Vogue for only $30. I love that it has the little slits in the side that shine little bits of light onto the ceiling. I can't get a good picture of that though.
The freshly painted linen cabinet. Complete with a nice clean painted cutting board. lol Sorry I always joke that the little pull out board is a cutting board in the bathroom. I assume you are supposed to use it to fold towels and stuff. I even out in new shelf liner throughout.
Fun little picture we had in the old bathroom. I also have some male/female ceramic wall hangings I still need to put back up above the hamper.
I even replaced the glass in the windows. The bottom had mismatched frosted glass that I replaced with this reeded glass. The top is just plain ol' clear glass. It looks a lot brighter and cleaner though since the bottom textures never matched and the top had old tint that was peeling off of it.
So that completes the new bathroom tour. 1000 pictures later. I love that it turned out so wonderful. It's great to have a room that every single thing in there is something we picked out. It's all new and clean but looks like it has been there forever.
Source list for those interested.
White Tile is Daltile from Home Depot
Black Pencil Tile is Daltile from Home Depot
Black quarter round,edging tile, floor tile, toothbrush holder & base tile -
B&W Jesse is awesome and so very helpful. Ask for him!
Thermador - Vintage from friends
Swivel Hooks -
Home Depot
Vintage Above the Toilet Cabinet - Ebay
Vintage Silver Shelves - Etsy
Pulls - Home Depot
People Hooks on Back of Door - Urban Outfitters bought ages ago
Shelf Liner -
Macbeth Collection
Shower Curtain - Marinekko for Crate and Barrel discontinued.
